Evan S. Dobelle (right), president of Westfield State U., is again being asked to explain how he spent a university's money. He departed from the U. of Hawaii a decade ago amid a similar controversy.

By Jack Stripling

After his acrimonious resignation as the University of Hawaii
system's president, in 2004, Evan S. Dobelle might have seemed like
damaged goods. Lawmakers and members of the Board of Regents had
painted Mr. Dobelle as a lavish spender who gave plum jobs to his
old friends.

The charges could have been a career killer, but it took Mr.
Dobelle only a few months to secure another presidency, at the New
England Board of Higher Education. Members of the agency's Board of
Delegates said they